Haunted House
by bananannabeth
Summary: Piper drags Annabeth to the local 'haunted house' to investigate the rumours of the ghost there, and they end up getting the fright of their lives. Oh, and Annabeth breaks Percy's nose. / A spoopy Halloween Percabeth fic.
1. Chapter 1

The house loomed over them, ramshackle shingles hanging from the roof and grime coating the walls. The grass of the front lawn came up to their knees, so overgrown that it was devouring the porch that wrapped around the entire lower floor. The entire thing was so decrepit that it was at risk of collapsing in on itself with the next slight breeze.

"No," Annabeth said immediately.

Piper elbowed her side. The streetlight across the road cast a halo around her, making her glow. "Too chicken?"

Annabeth scrunched up her face. "I'm not scared. I just think it's a dumb idea."

"Oh yeah, you're terrified." Piper smirked.

"I am not scared of a stupid house!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Prove it. Come inside."

"Why?"

"Because it's Halloween -"

"It's October 22, it's not Halloween."

"It's Halloween season you loser, get in the spirit."

"Was that a ghost pun?"

"Yes it was. Now will you come in with me, or am I just going to leave you out here alone?"

Annabeth sighed. "Fine. Lead the way."

Piper traipsed across the lawn, flattening yellow grass beneath her feet, and Annabeth followed close behind. She couldn't believe she'd let Piper talk her into exploring the abandoned house, but that girl could be remarkably persuasive when she wanted to be.

She was still talking now, repeating the urban legends that had circulated about the big house for years now. Annabeth knew them all. She'd grown up in this neighbourhood, so she knew all about the jilted bride whose spirit remained trapped in the house, wandering around in her wedding dress, wailing for her lost love. Legend had it that she waited in the attic for her husband to be, thinking that if they couldn't be together in life they could be together in death.

It was all old news to Annabeth, but Piper had just moved here, so this was new and exciting. She had that mad glint in her eyes she only got when she was super pumped for something, and almost fell into a hole in the porch because she was too busy talking to notice it. Annabeth caught her arm at the last minute.

"Thanks." She flashed her a grateful smile.

Annabeth stepped gingerly across the rotting wood, grasping the door handle. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Of course I am!"

There was no convincing her this was a bad idea. She had her heart set on it now, and Annabeth knew it. With one last longing glance back at the street, she opened the door and the two girls stepped inside.

The house was pitch black and quiet. Annabeth's breath caught in her throat as she surveyed the spacious entrance hall. Memories came flooding back, and she had to make a conscious effort to stamp down her fear - she was older now, wiser now, and she was _not scared of a stupid house._ It just gave her the creeps. Which was totally different.

"Whoa," Piper breathed. Dust stirred around her feet as she walked over to the staircase that wound up the back wall. "This place is huge! Why hasn't anyone restored it?"

"Bureaucratic red tape," Annabeth answered. Her voice was automatically hushed, as though the heavy, moth eaten drapes muffled it as soon as it hit the air. "It'd be beautiful if it could be restored, but it's too damaged at this point. It'd have to be demolished. But it's protected due to heritage value, so the case just keeps going in circles."

Piper started up the stairs and Annabeth reluctantly followed.

"Where are you going?" she hissed.

Piper's smile looked ghoulish in the light of the moon filtering through the cracked windows. "All the stories say the bride hangs around the attic, right?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, Piper, come on. Not the attic -"

Piper skipped back down the steps and clasped both her hands. Her skin was warm and comforting. "Annabeth. Embrace the fear."

And with that she pulled her up the staircase.

They didn't stop on the second floor landing, continuing on to the attic entrance. The ladder was down, and Piper started to climb it without even pausing. Annabeth grabbed her ankle and she flinched and made a strange little squeaking noise.

A clatter sounded from over their heads and both girls' eyes snapped up to the entrance above their heads. They held their breath, but everything was silent.

"Don't do that!" Piper whispered. She looked scared for the first time.

"Pipes, don't go in the attic," Annabeth pleaded. "I've been in there and it's not - it's not good."

When she was younger, her babysitter Thalia had brought her here once. Her boyfriend Luke had joked that the house was too scary even for Thalia, which she'd taken offence at. So, despite Luke's protests, the three of them had come to the house and - well, it hadn't gone well. Now that she was older, Annabeth understood that what she'd seen then probably wasn't as scary as it had seemed at the time, but she still wasn't pleased to be back.

Piper hesitated for a moment before steeling herself. "No, I'm going up there."

She pulled out of Annabeth's grip and climbed the ladder, leaving her with no choice but to climb after her.

Another noise, like someone knocking over boxes, came from the attic. They froze.

"We need a plan!" Annabeth hissed.

Piper shushed her and, before she could do anything, burst through the opening. A high pitched scream tore through the air, and Annabeth scrambled after her, instinct taking over.

"Piper!"

She hauled herself through the opening and something solid and warm grabbed her. Whatever she'd hit made a guttural noise, almost scarier than the scream. She spun, twisting out of their grip, narrowly avoiding falling back down the hole, and threw a blind punch. Her fist connected with a nose, there was a sickening crack, and then a string of curse words from a very human, very normal voice.

A flashlight flickered on and swept over the scene. Piper was halfway across the room, wide eyed and breathing heavily but otherwise fine. Beside her stood a blonde boy. His glasses were askew, and he was the one holding the flashlight. Opposite Annabeth, just outside punching distance, stood a boy with dishevelled dark hair and a blood nose. He was staring at Annabeth liked a wild animal who'd been cornered.

Her stomach dropped. "What are you doing?!" she yelled, voice startlingly loud.

"What are _we_ doing? What are _you_ doing?! Why did you punch me?" the dark haired boy shouted back. A drop of blood fell from his nose into his open palm, and he looked down at it with something akin to horror. "I think you've broken my nose!"

"Oh, my god," Piper said, "You've broken his nose."

"He grabbed me!" She spun from her friend to the boy - who, she couldn't help but notice, was quite handsome even with a bloodied face. "I thought you were the ghost!"

"Do I look like a ghost to you?!"

"You are a bit pale," the blonde boy said timidly.

"Shut up, Jason," the dark haired boy snapped. "I'm losing blood, of course I'm pale."

"You're not bleeding that bad, you should clot soon," Annabeth offered. "You need to lean forward and breathe through your mouth to make sure the blood doesn't go down your throat."

He glared at her but followed her advice anyway. "Thanks, that's really comforting. How do you know that, anyway? Do you often go around breaking stranger's noses?"

"Okay, everyone just calm down. We need to get you to a hospital," Piper said. Her voice was level, and her words did have a calming effect.

Annabeth took a few deep breaths and forced herself to meet the dark haired boy's eyes. "I'm sorry for hitting you. Honestly though, you should clot soon. And if we can get your nose set quickly it won't look too bad."

He didn't look comforted by her words.

"Annabeth," Piper said, "not helping."

"Sorry!" she snapped, throwing her arms up. The blood on her knuckles looked extra vivid in the flashlight beam.

"So we need to get Percy to a hospital?" Jason asked, shining the light right at his friend.

He flinched and threw an arm over his eyes. "Watch it."

"Sorry. Will you be all right to get out of here?"

Percy waved off his concern, but Annabeth didn't miss the look he shot her. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's just get going -"

Before he could finish, the sound of howling wind started at the far end of the attic. The four teens froze.

"What is that?" Piper asked, voice shaking.

"Probably just the wind blowing through a hole in the wall," Percy offered. He sounded sure of himself, but his eyes were darting around the room.

"Wind strong enough to howl like that would be moving our clothes," Annabeth said. Somehow, her voice was level.

"So?"

"So," she said, flipping up the hem of her t-shirt for emphasis, "I can't feel a breeze. Can you?"

The other three were silent.

A green light began to glow from a hidden source, casting the entire room in an eery light. They all seemed frozen, staring at each other in terror - Until a wispy female voice started muttering unintelligibly from the end of the room.

They all screamed and ran for the exit. They toppled out, knocking hands and feet on the way down, and bolted for the ground floor. Annabeth felt hands on her back, pushing her forward, but she couldn't say if they were Piper's or one of the boy's.

They ran out onto the street and didn't stop until they were two blocks away. Piper was doubled over, gasping for breath. Jason was staring down the street as though he expected the ghost to have followed them. Percy clapped his hands over his face, wincing.

"Do you know how hard it is to run and breathe with a broken nose?" he complained.

"You were right, Annabeth," Piper said between gasps. "We shouldn't have gone in the attic. What _was_ that?"

"The ghost," Jason said, matter of fact. "That was definitely a ghost."

Whatever it was had undoubtedly terrified Annabeth, but now that they were out of immediate danger she could analyse the situation logically. It was probably just other teenagers, playing a prank.

"Have you met many other ghosts?" she asked Jason, words dripping with sarcasm.

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but Percy cut him off. "Uh, I'm still bleeding over here. I would like to get my nose put back in order some time soon. It is, after all, the _centre_ of my face. Get it, centre - scent?"

He waggled his eyebrows at Annabeth, beaming despite the fact that he was covered in blood and undoubtedly in a lot of pain.

She folded her arms over her chest. "Did you just make a nose pun?"

"You _nose_ I did!"

She groaned and started leading the way to the hospital, which was mercifully close.

Later, when Percy's nose was packed with gauze and he was drugged up on painkillers, Jason and Piper went to take care of payment (apparently they both had parents with connections, who they were putting the hospital in touch with) and left Annabeth alone with him. She didn't really know what to say, considering she'd done a fair bit of damage to his (still painfully handsome) face. She stared at her cut up knuckles, which had been given a good wash, and tried not to think about how good he looked in profile. So she missed him frowning at the poster on the wall behind the reception desk.

"Does an apple a day _really_ keep the doctor away?" At first Annabeth thought it was just a drug induced ramble, but then she felt his eyes boring into her and realised he was waiting for an answer.

"Oh. Only if you aim it well enough," she replied.

He frowned. "Only if you - OH! I get it. Haha, very funny," he said, grinning goofily. His smile then slipped at the edges, however. "Are you always this violent?"

"Not always," Annabeth mumbled. She tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm really sorry for hitting you. You gave me a fright and I panicked."

"Sorry for scaring you," Percy said good naturedly.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, and then Annabeth said, "Can I make it up to you?"

He raised an eyebrow but was already smiling. "How?"

She bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm. She felt almost as scared right then as she had when they'd heard that woman whispering in the attic. "Let me take you out somewhere. Not to a haunted house, though. I think we've had enough of those."

Percy grinned so wide she was worried he was somehow going to snap his splint. "I'd like that. As long as you promise not to punch me again."

"As long as you promise not to frighten me."

He knocked his knee lightly against hers. "What about if other stuff frightens you, will you be able to protect me?"

"You know first hand how well I punch, I think I've got you covered," Annabeth half-joked.

Percy smiled at her, looking absolutely ridiculously handsome for someone with gauze up their nostrils. "Oh, yeah. We're gonna be fine."


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth stared at her reflection in the full length mirror. Dressed in an ankle-length marigold skirt and white blouse, pinched together with a large leather belt that made her waist ridiculously narrow, she looked nothing like herself. It didn't help that her trademark blonde hair was covered by a headscarf.

She tugged on the silky material and huffed. "Piper, this isn't going to work. I look nothing like Audrey Hepburn."

"You look amazing," Piper said, sticking another bobby pin in her hair. She was dressed in the classic little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's and looked like she'd just stepped off a New York Fashion Week runway.

"Why do I have to be Ann from Roman Holiday? Can't I just go as… I don't know, Black Widow?"

Piper shot a look at Annabeth's reflection. "From The Avengers? The theme is _classic_ Hollywood, Annabeth - old Hollywood glamour. And we promised Hazel we'd all coordinate."

"But you and Hazel look _good_ as Audrey Hepburn," Annabeth complained, pulling the headscarf down around her shoulders. "You're both beautiful and petite and I am -"

"Stunning, and not going to get changed," Piper said firmly. She gave up on getting a particularly short strand of her choppy hair to cooperate and just let it fall over her forehead. She brushed it aside and turned to Annabeth. "Look, I know this isn't the most original theme for a Halloween party. I'm not that happy with it either. I know there's going to be some smart ass who ignores the classic part and turns up dressed like one of my dad's characters, and it's going to be awkward. But we're going anyway, and we're going to have fun. You make a great Princess Ann."

* * *

There was no arguing with Piper, and Annabeth was glad she'd listened to her when they got to the party. Everyone was dressed up to the nines, and she didn't look out of place in her outfit.

The party was being hosted by one of Jason's friends, Reyna, who just happened to know one of the girls from Annabeth's art classes, Hazel. She was already there when Piper and Annabeth showed up. She and her boyfriend wore matching costumes, dressed up adorably like Eliza and Henry from My Fair Lady. When she spotted the girls her face lit up and she waved them over.

They'd barely gotten the pleasantries out of the way before Annabeth asked, "So Percy's not here yet?"

She didn't miss Piper rolling her eyes.

Hazel frowned. "No, I haven't seen him yet. Have you, Frank?"

Frank shook his head.

"Oh." Annabeth tried not to show her disappointment too obviously. She pushed her shoulders back and twirled the end of her headscarf between her fingers.

"Who's he coming as?" Hazel asked.

"It's a surprise," Piper said quickly. "Him and Jason wouldn't tell, even after I told them what we were doing."

Hazel's eyes twinkled in a way that made Annabeth think she knew perfectly well what their costumes were going to be. "Well it'll be a nice surprise when they show up then."

Surprise was the right word for it. Annabeth had already downed a few drinks and was feeling pleasantly buzzed when a warm breath hit the back of her neck and a voice right beside her ear said, "Hello, Princess."

She started and spun around to see Percy standing there, dressed in a silky gray suit and with his dark hair slicked back. His nose was no longer splinted, but it was still bruised. She looked him up and down and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hello, Gregory Peck."

He gave her a lopsided smile that didn't match the costume. "You look very pretty tonight."

Annabeth tucked the upturned collar of his shirt down under his jacket. "We match."

"Yeah. I'm not gonna lie, though, this was all Jason's idea."

Annabeth turned to where Jason stood with Piper. He was dressed in a suit, overcoat and skinny tie, like George Peppard from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Annabeth laughed again.

"Of course it was. Have you even seen Roman Holiday?""

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "No… At first I thought we were going as characters from Mad Men," he admitted. "I did watch the trailer on Youtube though! …Have you seen it?"

"Watched it with my dad," Annabeth said. "He's a sucker for old romances. I think they remind him of my mom."

Percy hesitated. They'd only known each other for a week, but what Annabeth had intended to be a casual dinner date after she'd broken his nose had turned into an entire night spent talking about anything and everything, and they hadn't really stopped speaking since. He knew enough about the messy situation with her parents to know that she didn't usually bring it up.

Before he could say anything, Piper's friend Leo came up and slung his arm over Annabeth's shoulders. "You guys ready to play flaming pumpkins?"

"What is flaming pumpkins?" Percy asked, wide eyed.

"It sounds… dangerous," Annabeth added.

Leo just grinned and steered them into the crowd gathered in the kitchen.

* * *

While everyone was distracted by Frank's smoldering sleeve, Annabeth put a hand on Percy's arm.

"Hey," she whispered, leaning in so her lips were right by his ear. "Do you wanna get out of here?"

He turned to her, eyebrows raised. "You wanna leave the party?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I don't really feel like catching on fire," Annabeth said with a pointed look at Frank, who still had one steaming arm in the sink. "Besides, this is what our characters did - they snuck out and went on an adventure."

Percy hesitated. "But our friends -"

"Won't miss us for a couple of hours. Come on." She tugged on his sleeve, and he caved.

The two of them crept out of Reyna's house and onto the street. It was pretty late, so there weren't many little kids out anymore. A few young teens roamed around, tossing toilet paper at each other and trying to look cool in their costumes.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked, threading his fingers through Annabeth's.

She smiled. "We are going… to the haunted house."

"Oh, a haunted house on Halloween, that narrows it down."

" _The_ haunted house. It's three blocks away."

He stopped. "Annabeth. No. Come on, we're not going back there."

"Scared?" she teased.

Under the streetlight the angles of his face were more pronounced. His eyes looked darker. He looked older, tougher, like nothing should scare him. But he sounded scared when he said, "Last time I went in there I got my nose broken. Excuse me for being reluctant to go back."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to apologise for that? And I promise I won't hit you again."

Percy didn't budge. "Why do you wanna go back there?"

"To find out what that thing in the attic was."

"It was a ghost."

"Do you really believe in ghosts?"

"After seeing that one, yeah I do."

"Percy."

"Annabeth."

She bit her lip and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Aren't you curious?"

He scrunched his face up and immediately winced, cradling his tender nose. He glared at her over his hand. "No."

"Just a few minutes. Just to see."

There was a long pause, and then he sighed and started walking. "We can't just have a normal, easy Halloween, can we?"

She laughed and hooked her arm through his. "I'm never going to make things easy for you, Percy."

* * *

The house was even creepier than the last time they'd been. Annabeth regretted her decision as soon as they stepped through the door, but she couldn't back out now without looking like a fool. The alcohol she'd drank at the party had worn off in the brisk night air as they'd walked here, and now that she was sober she was wondering why she'd ever thought this was a good idea.

Percy held her hand as they crept up the stairs to the second storey.

"Do you hear that?" he asked at the landing.

He stopped walking, and Annabeth froze beside him. Faint noises were coming from the attic, kind of like a shuffling sound. The hairs on the back of Annabeth's neck stood up.

Percy let her go and grabbed a loose baluster from the balustrade. "Just in case," he said, gripping the rotting wood tightly.

She nodded and led the way towards the entrance. The stairs were already down, but they'd left them down last time, after running out, so that made sense. The attic was deathly quiet. Annabeth tried to tell herself there was nothing to be scared of.

Almost as soon as she started to climb she stood on the hem of her skirt and pitched forward, arm falling through a gap in the steps and foot sliding out. Percy caught her around the waist and stopped her from falling completely.

"Thanks," she whispered, balling up her skirt in a fist and continuing to climb.

She cautiously peeked into the attic before hauling herself all the way up. It looked deserted. She let her skirt fall and grabbed out her phone, sweeping its light across the room. Nothing moved.

Percy stood beside her, baluster still in hand. "See, nothing here? Ghost is obviously out haunting. Let's go."

Annabeth didn't know why she didn't just turn and run. She'd faced her fear, she'd re-entered this stupid attic that had given her nightmares for years. Percy obviously didn't think she was a scaredy cat, and he was obviously happy to leave.

She should have just turned around and left.

Instead, she stalked slowly across the attic to where they'd seen the green glow.

"Annabeth!" Percy hissed, frantically gesturing for her to stop. "Annabeth, what are you doing? Get back here!"

She shushed him over her shoulder and kept going.

She heard him sigh, and then he was right next to her. "Get behind me."

"What are you doing?" she asked as he stuck an arm out in front of her waist and pushed her back.

"Protecting you," he said, looking at her like it was obvious.

Annabeth would have laughed if she hadn't felt so on edge. " _You're_ protecting _me_? I'm the one who broke your nose, remember?"

"How could I forget? It still hurts."

She was about to apologise or make a witty remark about her strength, she hadn't decided which, when the rustling noise started up again. She fell silent, and let Percy lead the way over there. He gestured for her to hang back while he crept around a tower of cardboard boxes. She craned her neck to try and watch as he gingerly stepped forward.

"Can you see anything?" she whispered.

He reached out and pushed a box aside. "No, it all looks - AHHHHHHHH!" he screamed and lurched forward, dropping the baluster with a loud clatter.

Annabeth screamed and ran to him, but before she could grab him he spun around and waved an empty sleeve at her, still shouting. A dark red liquid dripped from the cuff. Annabeth felt sick. Percy's face was pale in the light of her phone.

Footsteps thundered up the ladder into the attic and just made them scream even more.

"What's going on?" a familiar voice shouted. "What's - Oh my god! What happened to your hand?!"

Annabeth stopped screaming. "Piper?"

She was standing across the room, along with Jason, Frank, Hazel and Leo. They were all staring in horror.

"What happened to Percy's hand?!" Jason asked. He looked like he was about to faint.

Beside her, Percy had stopped screaming. Annabeth turned to him and gingerly reached for his sleeve.

"Percy, what happen-" She stopped as soon as her fingers came in contact with the sticky red substance on his sleeve. She took a deep breath in through her nose. "Percy. This is paint."

He popped his hand back out of the cuff and grinned at her. "I had you totally going for a second there! You thought I'd had my hand bitten off by a monster!"

"That's not funny!" She punched him hard in the arm.

He didn't seem too fazed, still laughing. "It's pretty hilarious, you should have seen your face - all of your faces, actually."

Annabeth scowled and stomped around him. Behind the cardboard boxes was what looked like a mini art studio. There was an easel, a bunch of canvases against the wall, and tins and tins of paint and brushes.

"What is all this?" she asked, carefully picking up a brush and twirling it between her fingers.

"Hey!" a new voice snapped from the entrance.

Their friends jumped about a foot in the air and spun around to face the very irate looking redhead who'd appeared suddenly behind them.

"Put that down!" she snapped, marching over to Annabeth and grabbing the brush.

Annabeth frowned at her. "Don't I know you?" she asked, watching as the girl put the brush back in its container.

"Rachel?" Percy and Hazel said at the same time. They glanced at each other, startled, and then back to the new comer, who was grinning.

"Yeah. I'm Rachel, I started in your art class two weeks ago."

Her face clicked into place in Annabeth's memory. "Oh, yeah." She caught the flirtatious smile Rachel gave Percy and put a hand possessively on his arm. Not Annabeth's finest moment, but her nerves were shot and seeing the guy she liked flirt with someone else was the last thing she needed. "And how do you know Percy?"

"We met at the Hoover Dam last Summer," Percy said. He was looking at Rachel like she really was a ghost.

"Is all this stuff yours?" Piper asked, sweeping the beam of her flashlight over the paint supplies.

"Yeah. I come in here to paint sometimes. No distractions," Rachel explained.

"You use an abandoned house as a studio?" Leo asked in disbelief.

Rachel shrugged.

"But last time we came here, it was all dark. And there was wind and a light and - and we heard a voice," Jason said.

"Oh, so that was you lot," Rachel said. "You woke me up, you know. You weren't very stealthy for people who'd broken in."

"But haven't you broken in?" Frank asked.

"That's different," Rachel waved him off. "Anyway, I was napping, before you woke me up with your shouting, hence the darkness."

"But the wind and the light?" Piper asked.

"Wind is my white noise machine. I accidentally turned it on when I was looking for my flashlight."

"Your white noise machine is set to howling wind?" Annabeth asked skeptically.

Rachel just nodded. "I was going for a spooky atmosphere for my latest folio. Hence the creepy attic and the green light."

"Oh my god," Piper said, voicing the thoughts of pretty much the entire group.

"Well, you definitely succeeded," Percy said, sliding an arm around Annabeth's waist. "And that's that, mystery solved. Let's go back to the party."

No one had any objections. They invited Rachel along with them, and she gladly accepted. There were no weird noises or lights as they filed down the stairs and out of the house. Once they were across the street Annabeth paused to look back at it for one last time, pondering how silly she'd been to be so scared of a house.

Percy stopped with her, draping his arm over her shoulders and holding her tight. "Thanks for a creepy Halloween," he said, giving the house a mock salute.

A woman appeared in the attic window. She looked about their age, but her hair was piled on her head in an old fashioned style and her face was gaunt, with sunken eyes.

But that didn't make sense. There was only one way in and out of the house, and they hadn't passed anyone on the way out. The house should have been empty.

As Annabeth and Percy stared in absolute terror, the woman vanished, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Percy's grip on Annabeth tightened as his other arm fell to his side. "You saw that, right?"

She nodded stiffly.

"Let's never come back here again," he said.

"Never again," Annabeth agreed. "For real this time."

"Are you two coming?" Piper called from a few paces away. The rest of the group had already started the short walk back to Reyna's.

Percy looked down at Annabeth. "Should we -?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Wise decision." Percy kissed the crown of Annabeth's head and didn't let her go for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **a.n.** yeah i know this is being posted way after halloween, sorry. i post my stuff on tumblr (i'm **bananannabeth** ) far more regularly than i do here, so go ahead and follow me over there if you'd like timely updates.


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